Blog tour: Dark Clouds Bring Waters

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Welcome to the blog tour for Dark Clouds Bring Waters by I R Ridley!

More about the book…

We all have questions for the dead…

Comedy writer Luke Jessop’s life is in stasis.

He hasn’t written a word since his wife, Billie, died almost three years ago and on finding a pile of old letters from her ex, Adam, he has begun to wonder how well he really knew her.

Embarking on a pilgrimage to Italy, Luke determines to piece together the full story about his wild and sometimes secretive love.

But with Adam refusing to answer his questions and a flame-haired hotel guest threatening his fragile calm, can Luke finally face the truths of the past and learn to live again?

More about the author…

Ian Ridley is a writer and journalist who spent 35 years on national newspapers, including 18 on The Guardian and The Observer.

Dark Clouds Bring Waters is his third novel, and a move into literary fiction after his two crime thrillers, Outer Circle and Don’t Talk, in the ‘Jan Mason investigative journalist’ series.

Ian has also written 14 non-fiction books, including two shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. Addicted, written with the former Arsenal and England captain Tony Adams, was a Sunday Times No. 1 bestseller while The Breath of Sadness: On love, grief and cricket is a poignant account of coping with the death of his wife Vikki Orvice, a trailblazing sports journalist, in February of 2019 at the age of 56. 

My impressions…

If the rollercoaster of grief could be made into a novel, this would be it. The five stages that people talk about - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance - all have a place in these pages, albeit not quite so orderly since grief is not something that follows a tidy, linear trajectory. With depth and dignity, the author gives us a glimpse into the life of Luke as he approaches the third anniversary of his wife’s death and, having read it could be helpful, embarks on a pilgrimage to a place where they had both been happy. Everything, from a favourite restaurant to a beloved view, becomes both joyful and melancholic in a tug of contradicting emotions. Evocatively set in the beautiful Cinque Terre, this is a short but powerful novel on love and loss.

Three words to describe it. Evocative. Inspiring. Emotional.

Do I like the cover? Yes, it’s beautiful.

Have I read any other books by the same author? No, I haven’t yet.


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